Mistakes
by MapleCandys
Summary: Simmons finds herself in a compromising situation, but when S.H.I.E.L.D. falls and friends turn into enemies, it becomes more and more difficult to keep her secret safe, but it just so happens to be one that Hydra is very interested in...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi there, this is a short little prologue as such to my first FitzSimmons fic. the events would have taken place after Yes Men and before the End of the Beginning. I'm hoping it won't be too angsty, but i wouldn't expect too much fluff from this either. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing**

**TW: mentions of abortion (only mentions)**

* * *

_This _has_ to be a mistake_ Simmons thought at the little stick of plastic she clutched in her shaking hands. _Its wrong, these things can be wrong, it's definitely a mistake_.

Mistake or not, there was no doubt in the two faint pink lines which had formed a cross and a tight knot in the pit of her stomach.

But really she had suspected as much. She had been more squeamish than usual; the look of Skye's blood began to make her physically ill. She was much more emotional, but she had put that down to the trauma of her best female friend getting shot in the stomach. But then she had been late.

She dropped the pregnancy test in the sink and sat heavily onto the closed lid of the toilet as her vision was blurred with her hot tears. Burying her head in her hands, she had let them fall when she heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Simmons?" came a soft muffled voice, "C'mon, Simmons, you're not the only one on this plane y'know, people are gonna start to get suspicious,"

Simmons choked back a sob, praying that her friend might just leave her to collect herself for a moment, but Skye persisted. "Simmons, you're scaring me now, please just open up-"

Skye was cut off as Simmons unlocked the door and pulled her into the BUS' cramped bathroom stared at her friend expectantly, her large brown eyes growing concerned as she took in the young scientist's disheveled state. "I'm guessing its not good news, then" she muttered grimly, prompting Simmons to break down in tears again.

The hacker suddenly felt a rush of guilt, distress washed over her and she fell to her knees to offer her comfort. "Honestly, Simmons, it could very well be a false alarm, God knows I've had experience there,"

Simmons grimaced and shook her head bitterly, "No, no the signs are all there, God, I'm such an idiot,"

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know… I-I'm going to have to talk to Fitz first and then..." the breath caught in her throat and she looked over to her sympathetic companion,"And then, I suppose I'm going to have to leave,"

For someone so clever, she couldn't believe she could have been so stupid. Of course, she could never blame Fitz; this whole thing was her idea. Becoming partners. Joining the team. Getting stupid stupidly drunk when visiting the Academy and sneaking off to break into his abandoned old dorm.

"This is where it all began Fitz, d'you remember?" she had slurred, they had leaned against each other as they stumbled towards the dust covered couch.

"Of course I do, Jems, how could ever I forget?"

She reminisced to their first moments, the two youngest, brightest and loneliest students had managed to find each other on the first day at the Academy. But after one awkward night, they agreed, they would work best as just friends.

"You were my first," she giggled, "I am glad it was with you, though, even though it was terribly awkward,"

"I've loved you since that very day, I have, you were my first real friend," he murmured into her hair, his accent thicker and heavier from intoxication.

"I know," she whispered, "I love you too,"

Then she had kissed him. It was sloppy and wet with the bitter taste of alcohol, but at the same time it was perfect. She didn't regret what happened, nor would she ever. The only thing she had regretted was the look on his face when he opened his eyes in the morning, and seen her gazing sleepily up at him from his naked arms.

The look of shock, betrayal and discomfort he had when he had jumped up, refusing to meet her eyes as he fumbled over his words and the buttons of his shirt. For that, though, Simmons was grateful, because that way he couldn't see the hurt on her face as she reassured him that nothing had happened. And they pretended like it didn't.

Except now she couldn't.

Her mind began to race. She would have to tell him the truth about that night. That would undoubtly ruin their friendship, and about the result which would ruin his career. No. No, Coulson wouldn't need to know about all this. She could have easily gotten knocked up by some senior on that visit. Then Fitz wouldn't have to suffer her consequences.

But how would she manage? Her parents would disown her, no doubt about that. She would definitely get fired- she had probably broken just about every regulation ever set, not to mention Coulson's trust. And how was she meant to support a child with no income? Her child didn't deserve that. Fitz's child didn't deserve that.

"Or," she whispered, "I could just..." She couldn't say it. It broke her heart to say it.

Skye's eyes widened, she shook her head, "No, Jemma, think about it, could you really do that to Fitz?"

Jemma's eyes welled with fresh tears. "I've already done enough, he doesn't need to know,"

"Yes he does, Simmons, please, at least promise me you will talk to him before you do anything,"

Jemma shook her head desperately, "he'll h-hate me,"

"No he won't," Skye assured her, clutching her friends hand as her small body wracked with sobs, "He can't, besides, he deserves to know. Please, just promise me"

Simmons composed herself, taking in a shaky breath, before meeting her eyes. "Okay," she sniffed, "I promise," she let her hand graze over her currently flat abdomen.

He deserved to know.


	2. Chapter 2

_He deserves to know, Jemma_. Simmons scolded herself, _just grow up and get it over with. _

She had been standing outside of his bedroom door for the past half an hour, her trembling fist poised in mid knock. Her heart was pounding rapidly and audibly in her chest, she swore she could hear it echoing across the empty bus. It was late afternoon, Skye and Ward were in training, catching up from the time they'd missed while Skye had been in recovery, and Coulson hadn't left his office since the night before.

She could hear him moving around behind the thin barrier that separated them, undoubtedly trying to fix Dopey, which had glitched and flown itself into a ceiling fan when they had been messing around after a debrief at the hub. Occasionally she would hear a soft clunk of something dropping followed by a muttered curse word that caused her to bite back a smile.

_Go on, honestly, he wont be angry that you've single handedly ruined his entire life. _

She sighed inwardly, finally dropping her clenched hand in defeat.

"Simmons?"

She whirled round at the sound of her name and found herself face to face with Agent May, watching her wearily with her usual passive expression and a pair of pilots' coms around her neck.

"May!" she exclaimed, a bit too loudly and a bit too high pitched. "What… you scared me,"

"Sorry," she replied, "I was coming to see if you were alright,"

"Alright? Pssh, yeah, yeah I'm fine, great... I was just... I needed to talk to Fitz,"

She said gesturing to the door behind her awkwardly, mentally kicking herself for her poor acting skills. May arched an eyebrow.

"I can see that. The cockpit security camera says you have been standing out here for thirty-two minutes,"

"Wha-at?" Simmons spluttered, "Oh I'm sure that's wrong... Must be a malfunction... I'll ask Fitz to take a look at it for you,"

_Conspicuous much_

The two women stared at each other for a moment before May shrugged, "alright, if you say so," she continued slowly, "But if there is a problem, Simmons, feel free to come to me, you know where I'll be,"

Simmons was slightly taken aback by the statement. She had always thought that May would have been the last person that would involve themselves in other's personal problems. She had never even been alone with her since her recruitment process, when May had supervised her initial suitability assessment. She had said nothing throughout the procedure, but she had given her an approving nod as she passed, which she now realized to be a pretty big compliment coming from her.

Simmons would never have expected such a display of concern. _She can see right through you_, she realized.

"Will do, thank you May," She replied as the older woman began to walk away.

_What have you got to lose?_

She hesitated before calling after her again, "wait! May, um, I was just wondering, um, what were the contingencies of Protocol 307?"

The agents eyebrows shot up at this comment, "Protocol 307, if a field agent or member of a S.H.I. team falls pregnant, they will be removed from all physical aspects on any current mission for four months then are transferred to desk duty for the remaining four months.  
They would then have leave for maternity until six months after the birth of the child; if the father is also an agent he will also receive four months paternity leave. The mother would then decide whether or not to resume her field operations or continue to work desk duty for as long as she deems suitable. This all, of course, is under the condition that both the parents have had their relationship approved by their supervising commanders and are not in violation of any other protocols.  
They will also have to be accounted for continuously throughout the term and will have to undergo a series of health checks, for reasons not stated the handbook,"

Simmons nodded carefully.

"Is there something you need to tell me, Simmons?"

"Hm? No, oh, no, that... I was just looking into Skye's background a bit, you with her parents being agents. I was helping-"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't do that, Simmons," May cut off her feigned speech, but seemed to relax even though her voice developed a stricter tone, "Skye already knows enough and from what we can assume that information is deeply under wraps. I think it's best if it stay that way,"

"Yes, of course, sorry, May, thank you for your time,"

May gave one last nod and a skeptical look before finally continuing back towards the cockpit.

Simmons waited until she was out of sight before slowly resuming her initial position in front of her best friends door. _Come on, you wimp, May's watching now, everything will be fine_.

She held her breath as she finally knocked and pushed open the door a crack to reveal an extremely frazzled Fitz. He was clad in the rumpled clothes from the night before and his curly hair was a mess. He had obviously been working non-stop on that stubborn little robot, he flashed Simmons a tired smile as she entered.

"Simmons! Finally, I was wondering what was taking you so long,"

"Sorry?" she spluttered, _oh god, he knew I was out there. What if he heard?_

"Its Monday. Come on, Simmons, Marathon Monday?" he prompted "It's only been our bi-monthy tradition since the day we met!"

"Oh, Gosh!" Simmons gasped, "Fitz, I'm so sorry, I'd just completely forgot!"

"Forgot? Jemma Simmons, that is not like you at all," he joked to mask his disappointment.

The morning after the night they had met, after several uncomfortable attempts at conversation over a bowl of cornflakes had they discovered one thing in particular they had in common: An undying and fervent love for Doctor Who. After much scavenging around the neighboring dorms, earning several tired and disgruntled stares they managed to conjure up the first two seasons and a Christmas episode box set.

After watching the whole lot over popcorn, haribos and a six-pack of Guinness, they had stayed up till the early hours of the next morning, chatting non stop about science and such and swapping war stories about being the brainy, bookish child in a family of religious and sporting fanatics respectively. By breakfast the next day they had both obtained a scolding from the Dean and a new best friend.

This tradition continued until this day, admittedly having to cut it down to twice a month. They had made it a requirement in their contracts to have those days off, and learned to buy their own box sets while they had the time, as they discovered the hard way that some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents didn't take so kindly to their scavenges as their fellow students had.

"Oh Fitz, I'm so so sorry, I suppose I haven't been myself lately,"

He gave her a quizzical look and made room for her on the bed beside him. "Is something wrong, Jems?" he asked as she perched carefully on the edge of the bed, leaving at least a foot of space between them.

"No… yes, well, I have to tell you something," she replied, refusing to make eye contact. He waited as she thought over her words.

"You remember a few weeks ago when we visited the Academy? And... When we got really drunk and woke up in your old dorm?"

Fitz nodded slowly; Simmons allowed herself a deep breath.

"And... I told you that nothing had happened, but... I lied, I'm so sorry, Fitz..."

Simmons watched helplessly as the panic grew, his eyes widened and his ears turned red.

"Oh God, Simmons, no, I'm sorry! I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have let that happen!"

"No, Fitz, honestly..."

"I can't even remember... Wait, please tell me there was protection,"

"Well, yes, but Fitz..."

"Oh thank god," he relaxed slightly, "because imagine if you had gotten pregnant, that would have been a disaster!"

Jemmas heart sunk. "Yes," she replied weakly, "that would have been,"

"But, really, Jemma, we can put that behind us, cant we?"

"Of course, don't be silly, I definitely wouldn't want this to ruin our friendship,"

He gave her a small smile and enveloped her in one of his big bear hugs she secretly loved so much. She buried her head into his shoulder and allowed herself to breathe in his comforting scent, cursing herself for being such a coward. She wished the embrace could've gone on forever, but he broke it off much too soon.

"So," he said softly, squeezing her hand before letting go of her completely, "since it seems you've forgotten all about Downton Abbey, it looks like I get my backup choice today,"

"Not that Sherlock Holmes again, Fitz!"

"What? You love Sherlock Holmes!"

"Yes, but how many times must we watch the same version over and over again?"

"Well you should have thought of that before showing up late and seriesless, besides we haven't seen this new film yet,"

Simmons rolled her eyes half-heartedly as he slipped the disk into the DVD player. "For what its worth, I prefer John Watson as a character,"

"Agreed."

He put his arm round her once the opening credits started rolling, and she found herself drifting halfway through the first movie. She leaned her head against his chest in the darkened room, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat as she lulled herself to sleep.

_You'll have to tell him sooner or later_, she told herself. But for now, she let them have that one little moment of peace.

* * *

**A/N: So I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I've put it out there anyway so i can thank you guys for all the love. this is kind of a filler chapter before shit starts getting real, because next chapter will take place during the End of the Beginning and I have a few things planned for then ;) again, thank you for the follows and the reviews, I was quite nervous about publishing this story and they really motivate me to write quicker, so I hope I won't disappoint you!**

**Soph x**


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't believe you didn't tell him!" Skye had hissed into her ear as she hugged her goodbye.

"I will, eventually," Simmons replied sheepishly, "It just... It wasn't the right time,"

"Well, when is the right time?"

"I don't know, Skye, but definitely not now. We're all under stress lately,"

"Okay, but really, Simmons, it isn't like you have that long to wait before it becomes obvious," she said, prodding lightly at her currently flat stomach. Simmons shot her a grimace before shouldering her large black duffle bag; She couldn't bring herself to be annoyed.

Skye had been her life support since she had found out about the pregnancy. She had held her hair when she was sick, found her new clothes when hers had started to get tellingly tight, thanks to her having gone up a full cup size, and had even cleared the security footage of the mysterious disappearance of the chocolate pudding cups, but not before lightly chastising her for not sharing. Simmons honestly didn't know what she would've done without her.

"Just keep me updated okay and be careful,"

"I will, Skye, stop worrying, there is no place safer for me than the hub," she smiled half heartedly, "you stay safe, and keep and eye on Fitz for me," she whispered the last part as her partner emerged from the bus, giving her a big cheesy grin once he caught sight of her.

Skye smirked and squeezed her arm before retreating back towards the bus. He closed the gap between them with a few quick strides and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Be good, Fitz, don't you do anything rash while I'm gone," she teased him.

He made a face. "Alright _mum_, I just came to give you something,"

She barely had time to cringe at his reply before he had shoved a tin foiled and sandwich bagged package into her hands. "Prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella," he grinned.

"Thank you, Fitz," she replied. Tears burned the back of her throat. _Stop being so bloody emotional_.

"Here let me give you a hand," he reached for duffle bag, gently brushing against her stomach in the process, causing Simmons to jump back a step.

"No! Err... No, don't worry, Agent Triplett was going to help me,"

She tried to ignore the wounded expression she had put on his face.

"Okay, well, I'll be in touch, good luck, Jemma..." he said. Fitz turned and started for the bus without another word, leaving her alone on the empty cargo deck to wait for Triplett.

"Bye, Fitz," she whispered, though there was no one there to hear her.

* * *

_There was blood everywhere. Sharp pains shot through her abdomen causing her to cry out in agony. She found herself digging her nails into somebody's arm "Fitz!" she managed to get out through her tears, "Something is wrong, I..."_

_"Jemma, Jemma calm down," he replied soothingly, but his bright blue eyes were filled with concern, "you have to lie down now Jemma, lie down,"_

_"What? No, Leo, please," she begged desperately as two pairs of gloved hands gripped her upper arms gently and tried to restrain her. "NO! Leo don't let them, don't go, don't leave me, don't..." she shrieked as a needle was carefully inserted into her forearm._

_"Everything will be okay, Jemma," she heard Fitz say as blackness washed over her._

* * *

Jemma woke with a start to her own screams ringing in her ears. Her heart was racing, and her stomach twisted with nausea. She tried to find her bearings, and her face flushed when she realized where exactly she had dozed off. She was at the hub, and she was supposed to be prepping for her fourth debriefing. Simmons glanced at her watch, which told her it was approximately forty minutes after it was scheduled to begin.

She rubbed the weariness from her eyes as she stiffly stood to gather he things. She crossed the room towards the exit to find Agent Triplett lounging casually by the door in the hall.

"Agent Simmons," he smirked as he caught sight of her, "I was wondering when you would come around,"

Simmons blushed furiously. "Why didn't you wake me!" she hissed "Did we miss the debrief? God that is so unprofessional"

His eyebrows shot up at her anger, "No, It's alright Simmons, it looks like we don't need to do debriefs anymore, and when I saw you'd fallen asleep, I thought I'd wait until you'd woken up to tell you,"

"Oh, well, thank you, but why don't we have to do debriefs anymore? Did they catch Deathlok?" she said, her eyes widening, she hoped they didn't have to hurt him.

"No, Garrett and your team managed to track down the Clairvoyant, Agent Ward took him out,"

"What? Why would Ward do that? I thought he was supposed to be brought in for questioning,"

"Yeah everybody's a bit shook up, he was in a vegetative state,"

He explained, "And its all been kind of hectic out here, people running around like crazy, It might have been a set back, but at least its all over,"

Simmons nodded slowly. She should have been happy that the threat was gone, but all she felt was anxiety and dread gnawing at the back of her mind.

"Are you okay?" the older agent said, noting her poorly disguised distress.

"Um, yeah, its just... Its a bit of wasted morning really," she replied weakly.

"Right" he said carefully, "well, since we're pretty much free from now, would you like to get a bite to eat?"

"Oh no, thank you Agent Triplett, I'm not really hungry..." Simmons replied, but was betrayed by untimely growling of her stomach, "I mean... I brought lunch anyway, besides, I do have some work to do, and I need to check up on Fitz... He'll be in trouble..." wait, what?

Triplett raised an eyebrow quizzically, but didn't comment. "All right, suit yourself, just don't go too far, I promised Coulson I'd keep an eye on you,"

She gave him a nod and a nervous smile as she shuffled past him to get to the elevator and the sub ground labs.

Ideally, Simmons had wanted to use any free time she had to hunt down any superior officer and try to talk about her situation, but the hub at the moment was like a ghost town. Her skin prickled as she walked through the eerily empty halls towards the labs. Something felt off.

Her thoughts were cut off as her cellphone chirped loudly from her breast pocket, causing her to jump and almost lose hold of the binders she was carrying, which she maneuvered strategically so she could wedge her phone between her ear and her shoulder in order to answer the private caller.

"Fitz?"

"Don't use my name, Jemma!"

"Why not?" she asked impatiently, "I thought you said you were going to use an encrypted line?"

"You're cutting in and out, hold on" she heard him put the phone down and movement on the other end of the line.

"Are you there? What happened with Ward?"

"What? Oh yeah, Ward, took us all by surprise, just hang on, keep talking... I'm gonna see if I can clear it up,"

"So you have no idea?" she said, growing slightly impatient "Because there's been a great deal of commotion on this end,"

As she spoke, the elevator doors opened and waves of armed agents and guards dodged past her and hurried in their multitudes towards the situation rooms.

"Hang on, now I think I've found the problem..." she heard from Fitz's end, though she had stopped listening, "looks like someone's tapping the hard line..."

"Wait, Fitz, I think something's happening... There's agents rushing to the situation room-" at that moment an had agent knocked into her, sending her cell phone clattering across the floor to get trampled by the an army of heavy boots. She muttered a curse under her breath, but decided to leave it. It was far past the hope of salvation, even for Fitz.

Simmons dodged her way through the crowd that was currently not getting thinner, something really must have happened, she thought anxiously. She spotted two officers who seemed to be in charge, and were simultaneously barking orders into their radio comms while ushering the small army of men through the narrow hallway. She tapped the smaller one on the shoulder to get his attention. "Excuse me," he half shouted over the rabble, "what's going on?"

The two agents stared at the small woman with slight bewilderment, "Who the hell are you?" the smaller one asked suspiciously.

"Err, Agent Simmons, uh, level 5… Biochem…" she replied waving her visitors pass meekly, "uh, is something happening?"

The agents glanced at each other; the larger one shook his head slightly before turning back to her, fake smiles plastered on their faces. "Its nothing to worry about, Agent Simmons, just a level eight operation, but we'd prefer it if you would stay out of the way,"

"Of course, I'm sorry," she stammered, but they had already started following the rest of the team down to the situation rooms. _Nothing to worry about Jemma,_ she repeated to herself to shake the feeling of unease as the heavy doors of the lab slid shut behind her_._

* * *

The sound of Simmons's fiercely growling stomach echoed throughout the otherwise silent lab. She had tried her best to ignore her hunger, after having to throw away the sandwich Fitz had so thoughtfully prepared for her, the scent of the soft cheese had her throwing up her breakfast into the chemical waste bin. Looked like for the little train wreck growing inside of her, Mozzarella was a no go.

"Not hungry, huh?" Triplett smirked from beside her.

"Thank you for that, Triplett,"

"You can call me Trip,"

"Thank you, Trip," she replied dryly. Simmons felt mildly guilty for treating him so harshly. It wasn't his fault she was so irritable, she had been an emotional rollercoaster all week, and she was especially weary now after the video call from Professor Weaver. _Don't trust anyone._

She let her mind wander as the communication system began to connect itself to the Bus. She was deeply worried about her team. She hoped to god they were okay, that they had managed to separate themselves from the fire, but she just knew that Fitz was going to try to find at all costs.

"So who's the guy?"

"Excuse me?" she spluttered.

"The father?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied far too quickly.

"Simmons, I may not be a Doctor, but I'm not blind. You've displayed five symptoms of the early expectant mother, not to mention you have been unsubtly patting your stomach for the past half hour,"

She dropped her hands from where they had absently wandered and glared at him in defiance.

"I don't want to talk about this with you," she muttered as she tried again to reestablish the connection, "Its hardly the appropriate time,"

"You know I'm not here to judge,"

"Then why are you here?"

"I told you, I'd promised Coulson..."

"You'd keep an eye on me, yeah that's what you say, but how can I trust you?"

"Do I look like Hydra to you?"

"How should I know what Hydra looks like? For all I know you've been trying to get us to sympathize with you only to stab us all in the back,"

"That's really not my style,"

"Then what is your style, Triplett?"

"Chivalry,"

"Chivalry is just a conceited idea of human decency,"

"Call it what you want, Simmons. I'm not going to hurt you either way,"

Simmons paused before sighing. They might die together, but she wasn't going to die at his hand, she shouldn't be at his throat.

"I'm sorry,"

The agent shook his head, "Don't worry about it, and focus on the team now, how are we doing?"

"I'm telling you the signal is clogging everything up," she replied, unease settling in her stomach, "something terrible must have happened,"

They both jumped as the heavy double door was kicked down and the couple of agents that Simmons had stopped before burst in, along with three other handguns aimed at both of their chests.

"Freeze! Show me your hands!" the bigger man commanded, "_show me your hands_,"

Simmons lifted her arms above her head, fighting her urge to instead wrap them around her middle as another agent searched her body for weapons. _He missed the knife. _She realized, glanced at Triplett as they were marched hastily down to the situation rooms, where they waited for none other than the figure of Victoria Hand to emerge from the shadows and take a seat in front of them.

"The rest of your possibly very short lives hinges on this moment," she stated. Simmons swallowed her nerves as she paused. "Hydra has successfully infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. at the highest level. It only took seven decades, and today is our coming out party. We have the support of the level nine and level ten agents, and those who have resisted Hydra have been crossed off. Director Fury included." Simmons inhaled shakily, _we really have no chance_ she thought desperately, angry tears filling her eyes.

"I am here to offer you a choice, and a simple one at that, either swear unwavering loyalty to Hydra _right now_, for all time, or share Fury's fate."

The guns that had been dropped were now pointed at their heads. Simmons met Triplett's unusually composed gaze. _Are you sure you can trust him? _She found herself thinking. He stared at her in such a way that she knew he was thinking the exact same thing, almost challenging her.

"I won't wait long,"

Without breaking eye contact, Simmons nodded mutely at her only companion, and he automatically snapped into action. Her heart pounded as he took out the nearest agent, grabbed the knife as she tossed it in the air and pressed it against his throat like a choreographed routine. "Cross us off," he growled, "and one of you goes too,"

Hand smiled in satisfaction, "Right answer," she rose from her seat as the five guns were lowered, "the number of people I trust is now seven,"

She and Triplett shared a confused look, "that was a… a test?" Simmons gasped, her heart rate slowing.

"That very few have passed,"

"I thought we were dead," she sighed with relief, "You're not Hydra, thank god,"

"Well don't celebrate just yet, we may not be Hydra, but your friend Coulson, he is,"

* * *

Dozens of conflicting emotions were swirling around Simmons' head, namely dread and distraught filling her from her very core; she ignored the lump in her throat, trying desperately to hold herself together. _Coulson isn't Hydra, May isn't Hydra, Ward isn't Hydra, Skye and Fitz are safe, _she chanted silently to herself. Her entire world was crumbling around her as the room filled with the tense voices of agents and soldiers who no longer belonged to a cause.

"Are you alright," Trip asked softly, noting her distress. Due to their low status and lack of experience, they had been pushed to the side and were waiting for any news about her condemned unit.

"Yes," she replied unconvincingly, "I'm just really worried, you don't believe all that, do you? You don't believe Coulson could be Hydra?"

Triplett watched her for a moment before he sighed, "honestly, I don't know what to believe any more… ten years serving an institution that turns out to be the opposite of what I signed for, my trust is a little bit broken right now,"

Simmons bit her lip and looked away, "I understand,"

"At least I know I can trust _you_ now, you did give me my knife back,"

"Yeah, I'm sorry for being so insufferable earlier… I should really thank you for protecting me,"

"Its alright, you don't have to thank me, I told you, I'm Chivalrous, what else was I supposed to do?" he replied light heartedly.

"Okay, but if we get out of here, I'd like to make it up to you"

"Well, maybe if you're _that_ grateful, you could name your kid after me,"

Simmons half snorted and shook her head to mask her forming smile.

"What?" he said jokingly, "Antoine is not such a bad name, I've learned to live with it,"

"I doubt that F-" she stopped herself, "I... I'm not that grateful Trip," she finished weakly.

Trip studied her with a twinge of pity, "he doesn't know, does he?"

"I don't know how to tell him... I mean, I had been planning to do it once this was all over, but now everything just changed," she swallowed back tears.

"I'm sure everything will be okay, he can't blame you."

"I suppose... But I just don't know it can possibly work out, what with everything that's happened... Throw a _child_ into the mix, it just creates one huge mess..."

Simmons squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

Suddenly she was confronted with an image of Fitz's tear stained face, stood solemnly in a line along with May and Coulson. _You're going to suffer for what you've done_, he swallowed, and_ I plan on being a really big part of it_

Garrett laughed and shook him by the shoulder as if he weren't about to destroy his life.

_I like you kid_ he said before turning towards the handful of armed guards, which lined the wall behind him_. All right,_ _let 'em have it, but_ _shoot that one in the kneecaps._

Simmons gasped and shot out a hand to steady herself on the workbench, but instead caught hold of a steady, muscular arm. "Simmons?" Triplett's concerned voice brought her rushing back to reality, "are you okay?"

She met his gaze with equal amounts of confusion.

"I saw Fitz," Simmons gasped promptly letting go of his arm as she regained her steadiness. "And May, Garrett, Coulson,"

"What do you mean?"

"They're in the surveillance room, Garrett… Garrett is the Clairvoyant!"

"What?"

Hand was watching her steadily, "check the cams," she commanded without breaking eye contact with the scientist. The room had grown silent. The other agents studied her with a mix of suspicion and curiosity, until finally and sure enough, four familiar figures emerged on the screen. Garrett, Coulson, May and Fitz. The room froze until Hand finally broke the tension.

"Agent Simmons, I would like a word with you in the hallway, if you wouldn't mind," she said coldly.

"Ma'am, don't you think…?" an agent started, but was immediately cut off, "we have time, this won't take a moment,"

Simmons could only nod mutely and follow the older woman out into the darkened corridor.

"Agent Triplett, your presence is hardly necessary,"

Trip crossed his arms at the woman and gave her an impassive stare.

"With all due respect, mam, I am under orders to make sure nothing happens to this girl, and due to the current circumstances I think it is very necessary," he replied coolly.

Hand considered a moment before replying reluctantly, "Fine, lets make this quick, Agent Simmons, how long have you been experiencing precognition?"

"Precognition? I…I thought they were only vivid dreams, I've never had one while conscious before,"

"They're visions, probably a side effect of… how far along are you?"

"I… What?"

"Please, Simmons, lets just make it easier for everyone,"

"How did...?"

"Please, if you initially had powers, the Academy would have already taken note of that when you were assigned. You have not reportedly been put in a situation which would have exposed you to a material which would have given you such powers, which leaves one possible explanation for your behavior," Simmons' heart was pounding a thousand times quicker by the time she paused, "you are carrying a gifted child,"

Simmons opened her mouth, but she could not make a sound.

"Now if you can co-operate, Simmons, I can assure you that you will be under my protection as a senior agent, if you will help us,"

"Ten weeks," Simmons whispered at her shoes.

Hand nodded thoughtfully, "are you planning on keeping your child?"

"Yes,"

"You realize these powers are only going to get stronger, they could possibly develop into full blown clairvoyance. We will be able to help you control them, and your child when its born, we could use your help in the future, Simmons, but for now its best to keep your circle of trust small, and tell as few people as possible," she paused for thought as Simmons tried to process this information. "There are people who would do anything in order to get their hands on such a power, you have to be careful,"

"Thank you, Agent Hand," Simmons replied softly. She was about to add something more, but a team of agents, storming onto the screen, interrupted her. Hand scowled, "this will have to wait until later, thank you for your co-operation, but now lets go get your team,"

* * *

Simmons didn't have to be told twice, she practically led the group down to the surveillance room, mind racing with thoughts of Fitz. As soon as they were given the clear, She burst into the room, pushing past everyone in her way and ran straight into Leo's arms. He held onto her tightly as the shock of the impact subsided, and relief washed over them both.

They had been separated far too long. It was almost laughable how co dependent they had become. Simmons had never been so scared in her life thinking how he had almost been taken from her forever. She could never lose him again.

She found herself releasing all the tears she had been fighting back into the crook of his shoulder.

"Simmons," he whispered almost in disbelief.

"Fitz,"

"I thought you were dead,"

"I'm not," she whispered back, "We're not, we're safe now,"

And they stood like that, lost in each other's arms and only briefly amongst the blood and the chaos; they let themselves forget the world.

* * *

**A/N: uh, hey guys? I know I'm terrible. I'm sorry, its been ages since ****I've updated, i can't believe it. life got in the way, namely exams, and honestly i screwed up and had to rewrite a lot of this chapter, and I'm afraid, its not my best.**

**So there was ****_a lot _****to cover here, sorry for the lack of Fitzsimmons, but yeah, you know, there just wasn't a lot in the two episodes i covered here, but i will be making up for that in the coming chapters in abundance, promise (they won't take to long this time, i swear).**

**so what did you think? did I do it justice? anyone else warming up to Trip? he seems to have replaced Ward now anyway, i feel like he's kind of like everyones chill older brother...**

**ok thats enough from me, thank you all for your loveliness and for sticking with me, and good luck to anyone doing finals atm, god knows I need it too...**

**Soph :) xx**


	4. Chapter 4

"A _super baby_?" Skye stared at her friend incredulously over the two cups of (decaf) coffee that Simmons had generously brewed specially for the hacker in the hopes of an equally generous and completely amoral favour to be given in exchange. "That's awesome! Really, I wouldn't think Fitz had it in him, are you sure its his?"

Jemma sighed and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at her friend. She had just explained to her the conversation she had had with Hand while at the Hub, and Skye was not currently matching her feelings. She was well meaning, sure, but she was acting like this whole situation was like some juicy subplot from a crappy night time soap opera, and honestly, she was grinding on her gears a little bit.

"So you can see the future now? That is super awesome, you could like be the worlds first pregnant superhero, we should get you a cute maternity little costume, a cape... Wait, isn't it a bit weird that you kind of caught super powers from Fitz? Is it like a super STI, or does it go as soon as the kid pops out..."

"_Skye!_" Simmons burst impatiently, ignoring the colour flooding her cheeks, "You're going completely off topic, and I want to know if it is a terrible invasion of privacy..."

"To hack your boyfriends personal files? Yes, yes it is,"

"He...Fitz is not my boyfriend, Skye, and I am just doing a bit of background research, because honestly it doesn't add up that the fetus is gifted despite neither of the parents have any of those hereditary qualities, I mean, precognition? I doubt Fitz would forget to mention a family member with such an improbable power,"

"Maybe he didn't want you to dissect his aunt or something," Skye gave her a sideways look, "How about you just ask him?"

"I cant. Not without telling him I'm pregnant, which, due to the current circumstances, would just result in all the more unnecessary stress,"

"You should tell him," Skye replied bluntly.

"I am not going to tell him!" Simmons snapped, "Not yet! Eventually! So will you help me or do I have to figure this out on my own?"

It was Skye's turn to sigh, "fine, but only because I'm going to get the files out anyway to delete them, but I'm not happy about this,"

"Oh when have you ever been unhappy about hacking into something private and confidential?"

"Okay you got me," Skye grinned at her, before swiveling round to her laptop and getting down to business.

"So have you told your parents?"

"No, its not right to tell them now, could you imagine you only daughter calling you up with, _hi mum, hi dad, sorry its been a while, just letting you know that, you let me leave to pursue a career in biochemical sciences at fourteen only so I could end up pregnant at twenty six, unmarried, and officially non existent to the worlds government and on the run from a group of freaking Nazis who want my boss dead…_ that being said, I would actually like to talk to them one last time…"

"I can give you Coulson's cell, but… Hey, look, I found something! Wait… no I haven't,"

Simmons' eyes snapped up from her lukewarm cup, "What?"

"It looks like some one already got all the information on his Dad…"

"I didn't think there would be any information anyway, He was always absent, disappeared when Fitz was small, he doesn't like to talk about him…"

"No, something's definitely missing here,"

Simmons bit her lip, suddenly feeling anxious, "Well is there anything else?" she asked as the file disappeared forever.

"Nope, nada, nothing outta the ordinary about our boy. And now you're officially a ghost couple. How romantic…"

Skye stopped talking as she noticed her distress, "Here," she said in a softer tone, handing her Coulson's battered cell, "Call your parents, you're going to have to be fast, I need to call Ward so just give it back to me when you're done,"

Simmons nodded half-heartedly and moved to shut herself in her bunk. She hadn't been able to her parents since she had first found out about _her_ current situation. Her mother had instantly caught on that something was wrong, but she just couldn't bring herself to get it off her chest. Now her identity was about to be wiped from existence, and it would be a long time until she saw her family again. She would have to come clean. The nerves were eating away at her from the inside out. Or maybe that was her unquenchable hunger.

She stared at the keypad for a good minute before she could bring herself to dial their number for possibly the last time, and stared at the screen as it rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Until finally she reached voicemail, and a horrible feeling of dismay crashed over her.

"Hello! You've reached the house of Richard Simmons," said a familiar gruff voice that brought nostalgic tears to her eyes.

"And Jane Simmons!" her Mothers perky voice chimed in, "We must be away right now,"

"Or just unable to take your call,"

"But please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can,"

_Beep_

Simmons inhaled shakily as she sank onto her bed and tried as best as she could to keep her voice from wavering.

"Hi, Mum, Dad, Its Jems, I'm sorry I haven't been in touch in a while, its just been a little hectic around here, you know... Oh you must have seen it on the news by now, but, well... S.H.I.E.L.D is gone but I just cant come home right now, there are just some things needing to be taken care of and..." she swallowed hard at the lump in her throat,

"I don't know when I'll be able to see you again, we're all being wiped from the systems, but, please don't worry about me, I have Fitz... And Coulson, and my team will take really good care of me,"

She couldn't help the crack in her voice, "I'm running out of time now, give Nana my love, and the boys of course and… I have something else to tell you when we actually get to speak again; I don't want to tell you like this. Just please try not to worry, Mum, I love you-"

Simmons had just managed to finish before she was cut off by another high-pitched beep. She wiped at the tears that had managed to escape. This was the first time she had felt homesick in a long time. She had never felt this aching sensation since her first days at the Academy. _You should have just told them, you should have just told Coulson and Fitz and you would have gotten sent home…_ but as she thought that the ache only got worse.

Simmons looked to the bedside table and promptly threw open her drawer to fish out the framed picture of her parents that she would look to whenever she had felt lonely. They had looked like the perfect family; her dad had his arms wrapped tightly around her beautiful mum and a girl she could hardly recognize with large brown eyes as they grinned brightly at the camera.

The picture was taken at her second year at Sci-Ops, when they had come to visit while they took a holiday in the States. She remembered how it was Fitz who had forced them to smile like that with his nervous rambling about the simplistic technology of her Dads camera causing his accent to become thicker. It had been the first time Fitz had met her parents; she had to assure him afterwards that they had in fact adored him, but she didn't mention however how her mum had insisted on what a cute couple they made. That day was one of her fondest memories, but now it just seemed so long ago.

"Simmons?" someone called, interrupted her thoughts. She only had time to thrust the picture frame back into the drawer and shut it before Fitz burst into the room, "Simmons, Skye said that… wait, Jemma, what's wrong?"

"Hm?" she sniffed in reply, "Oh, nothing really, I'll be right out,"

Fitz didn't leave. Instead he slid the door shut and sat down next to her slowly on the pristine white bedding. He didn't touch her, but he didn't have to. "Your parents?" he asked her softly. Simmons averted his gaze as she shook her head.

"No answer… its fine. I left a message,"

"We could try again late, maybe? I'm sure wherever we end up will have some means of communication,"

She remained silent.

"Is there something you need to talk about, Jemma, because you know you can always…"

"There's a lot I need to talk about, Fitz, but… you're just not the right person,"

She tried to ignore the flicker of hurt in his eyes before his expression hardened.

"I understand," He muttered, "But you know I –I'd never judge you,"

"I should hope not," she smiled weakly at an attempt to lighten the mood she had dampened, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Hey look at that," Fitz said, noticing the picture frame sitting on her lap, "I remember that,"

"You should, you took it,"

"You don't look any different,"

"That was seven years ago!"

"You don't look a day over 20"

Simmons laughed, Fitz smiled, secretly pleased with himself to have gotten that reaction.

"Well I'm certainly not 20 years old anymore, and neither are you Mr. Fitz,"

"No, I know, I do miss it though, the Academy,"

'The work, the tests… too bad it was all for naught…"

"I wouldn't say that, Shield's gone but… I'd do it all again regardless because, I mean, I got you,"

Simmons stared at him speechless, he flooded a tomato red and dropped his gaze, "Well no, I mean, not to say that I own you or anything, I just mean, I mean I-"

"Fitz, Its okay, I understand," she assured him quietly. She hesitated before pressing her lips in a chaste kiss against his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered, then, standing, she left her bunk and went back to Skye.

* * *

***peeks put from behind fingers* Hello? yeah I know its been so ****_long_****, feel free to let me have it. I'm so terrible I know but just life got in the way... Im so sorry for not having updated in ages, really, you guys are so great if you're still with me on this after that hiatus, I have just been SO busy with A levels and i know thats a crappy excuse, but here, sorry this chapter isn't so action packed but i hope you've enjoyed it, I've been getting back on a roll and no promises but the next chapter should be coming up very soon :) Soph x**


	5. Chapter 5

You'd think a state of the art, top-secret government security base would have a decent heating system. Jemma had hated providence with a passion. It was dark, damp and echoey, there was a constant wave of freezing wind coming from god knows where. It filled the long, shallow hallways and creeping into the bunks, if they had stayed there any longer she would have gone insane.

She hated how spacious it was, maybe that was due to her familiarity with less than spacious living arrangements. Having moved from cramped dorm to even more cramped dorm, her tiny, shared apartment while under specialised training to living on a freaking plane. After ten years, she didn't see the need for this excessive space.

Being pregnant made everything worse. She was actively trying to avoid Fitz, and everyone else for that matter; reluctant to have them catch on before she was ready. Even with Skye and Tripp covering for her, she thought it must be ridiculously obvious. Almost three months along and her symptoms hadn't wavered in the slightest, in fact they were actually getting worse.

She found herself in a constant state of hunger until she would come across some cheese, pickles or eggs which without fail would make her run to throw up in the nearest bathroom (which obviously want near at all, stupid base). She suffered from nosebleeds and insomnia, splitting headaches and everything from her back to her legs to her breasts were sore. Simmons was miserable. She wouldn't let anyone know though, she tried to keep a lid on her violent mood swings in front of anyone but Skye and Tripp, who though they felt only the highest of sympathy for her, were secretly slightly alarmed by the small flurry of hormones which she had become.

Finding the body didn't help.

Neither did Fitz's reaction. He had always been subject to those little bursts of frustration that would leak out if he were ever particularly stressed or upset, however a melt down like this she had seen only once before, and she never liked to recall it.

About 18 months into their partnership, he got a call telling him his brother had died. Simmons hadn't known much about him, only that he was much older than Fitz, he made the best eggy bread and that he had been caring for their mother while Fitz went to Uni when he got deported to Iraq. From what she could tell from limited information, the state of Fitz's room and his knuckles, they had been close.

"It's my fault, Jemma," he had hissed through angry tears as she cleaned and bandaged the cuts on his hands, "he joined just to spite me, I should never have come here, I should have stayed in Glasgow..."

Nothing she had said helped, she had never felt more useless in her life. She went back with him for the funeral; they were given the week off for family emergency. The service was intimate; she was the only person there who wasn't family. It rained the entire week. She realised then that actions got through to Fitz louder than words, and a squeeze on their shoulder was what they used to remind each other they weren't alone.

Fitz felt like he was loosing his brother all over again with Ward, and once again she just didn't know what to do.

They had held a short service of sorts for Eric Koenig, it was the best they could do. They buried him outside the base, where Jemma stood silent and solemn as Tripp and Coulson lowered his body into the frozen ground. She watched, wrapped in her winter gear as his make shift grave was filled with earth and snow. Fitz himself was silent, she had a mind to talk to him as soon as they were alone, or rather listen. Listen to him pour his heart out, opening her mouth only to agree, assure him, maybe even be honest herself. She took his mitten-clad hand in her own and squeezed softly. He didn't squeeze back.

Now she sat almost leisurely with her feet dangling in the cool water, sending tiny ripples along the pools surface. Fitz was slouched beside her on one side, the others had gathered to her right. God knows what they looked like, a mismatched group of knackered looking adults at a motel poolside, sharing the contents of a vending machine for dinner. No questions were asked, then again the staff had probably seen stranger.

"Fitzsimmons, you can go together,"

"Pardon?" Jemma's snapped her head up, disoriented.

"The accommodation, weren't you listening?" Coulson said wearily.

"I'm sorry my mind was somewhere else," she replied.

"I called dibs on the single room," Skye grinned before stuffing a handful of skittles in her mouth.

"Are you okay sleeping with Fitz?"

"Uh, yes of course,"

"It's not like we haven't before," Fitz stated innocently.

Simmons pointedly ignored the outburst of choking coming from Skye and caught the keys Coulson tossed her way.

"I'm going to call it a night, we should all try and get some rest," Coulson said, before he turned to leave.

"Night, sir!" She and Fitz chorused half heartedly, while Tripp clapped Skye firmly on the back, in an attempt to help dislodge the skittles from her windpipe.

"You know, Jem, I think I'm going to head in too," Fitz said, he was obviously extremely tired, his eyes clouded with fatigue.

Jemma nodded and smiled, handing him the room key as he got to his feet. "Okay, Ill stay out here for a minute or two before I join you,"

She was surprised at how her stomach fluttered when he smiled back at her, with that lazy lopsided grin she had seen so many times before. It was probably hormones, she later told herself, just the oestrogen overdose.

"Your bump is coming in nicely," Skye remarked after he was gone, poking at a fraction of exposed skin where her jumper had risen around her middle, obviously having recovered from her skittle induced near death experience, "Maybe you should lay off the chips,"

Jemma gave her a sideways glare, but didn't really take offence. She knew the teasing was purely just Skye's coping mechanism, and they had all been through so much.

"It's a bit early for that yet," She sighed, humouring her friend for once. Besides, Skye wasn't wrong, her formerly flat stomach had rounded past her hipbones in a way that was just about noticeable if you knew what you were looking at, "I was rather hoping it wasn't that obvious,"

"Everyone's different, Its probably only because you're so tiny, Simmons," Skye nudged her shoulder gently with her own.

"Besides, the black is slimming," Tripp offered.

"Yeah, why do you think Tripp wears so much of it?"

"You wanna go for a swim, girl?" He said in mock offence, giving Skye a light shove towards the pools edge.

"Yeah, well I don't think it can do the trick for much longer,"

Tripp and Skye stopped their squabbling for long enough to exchange a look.

"Well, Simmons, if you want our opinion…" Skye hesitated.

"You think its time to tell Fitz,"

"I know we keep bringing it up…"

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just… hard," Simmons repositioned herself so she could rest her head on her knees, "I don't know how he'll take it,"

"The boy's not going to walk out on you, that's for sure," Tripp mused.

"Oh god, Simmons that's not what you're worried about is it?" Skye almost laughed, "That boy would follow you to the moon and back,"

Simmons bit her lip, but didn't say anything. Instead she started searching for her shoes, "I think I want to go to bed, now,"

"Hey, Simmons, I hope I we didn't…" Skye started.

"No, It's not you, I'm just tired, you know, being on the run from the law while making a person, it takes it out of you…"

"We'll walk you to your room," Tripp said, he and Skye awkwardly getting into standing position.

"No, there's no need Tripp, you should probably get to your rooms too before it gets too late,"

"I don't think I'd be able to sleep anyway," Skye muttered grimly.

"Well, gee, thanks for claiming the single room then,"

"Hey! No pj's means a lady should be able to have her own room,"

"Well why am I rooming with Fitz then?" Simmons protested as they made their way to the cinderblock building.

Skye actually laughed now, "Simmons, I think we've established he's seen you in a lot less than your underwear,"

Simmons could only shoot her another withering glare before she shoved open the door Fitz had graciously left unlocked. Cheeks burning, she turned to find refuge in the one bed left unoccupied, trying to tune out their dying laughter as she got ready for sleep.

* * *

**Hey guys, so I know this update is long overdue but honestly I've had some trouble with my computer in that I lost a bunch of files and couldn't get them back, anyways, Its all taken care of now, next chapter should be up sometime this week now...**

**Thank you as ever for reading, hope you enjoyed it, please drop me a review if you can ^.^**

**Soph x **


	6. Chapter 6

Fitz had long since given up trying to fall asleep, instead he found himself staring at the motels cracked plaster ceiling, at the dancing waves of light that illuminated the room, reflected off of the pools surface outside. He listened to the soft hum of the air con along with Simmons' soft, rhythmic breathing which cut through the perfect silence. It was guilt. He knew it was ridiculous; he had nothing to feel guilty about. He also knew that this had nothing to do with Ward either, and more to do about his best friend sleeping soundly less than a metre away from him in nothing but a sports bra and a pair of his old boxer shorts.

He repositioned himself as silently as he could on his side and looked over to Simmons' sleeping form. She lay curled tightly in on herself in the centre of her bed, her sheets covered only her middle and her pony tail had come loose in the night, stray locks of hair stuck to her neck and forehead in a way that Fitz badly itched to reach over and tuck them back. Before he could even find the nerve, she startled him by flipping herself quite suddenly on her back.

"_Simmons?_" He whispered, quietly hoping he hadn't been caught in the act that he now realised was rather creepy of him, but instead of a reply she let out a shriek that for a moment made his heart stop.

He threw off his covers and made his way quickly over to her bedside, trying to restrain her flailing, burning limbs before realising she wasn't breathing. "_Simmons!_" He hissed frantically as he shook her shoulders lightly in an attempt to wake her, "Jemma, wake up, Jem- _ow!_ Bloody Hell..." He recoiled as Jemma's forehead collided with his own with a resounding smack as she finally bolted upright, her eyes snapped open.

"Fitz?" She gasped as she re adjusted to their surroundings.

"Shh, Yeah, I'm here," Fitz breathed a sigh of relief as he massaged his brow bone, "I think you were having a..."

"Nightmare... Yes, I- oh goodness," Jemma gagged. She pushed herself off the bed and scrambled to stick her face into a nearby waste paper bin and heaved violently, leaving a bewildered Fitz kneeling on her bed dishevelled bedding.

The sound of Jemma's sobs snapped him back into the present. Slowly he crossed the room over to where she was kneeling on the floor, her slender arms wrapped tightly around her tiny body as if she would fall apart if she didn't.

Fitz hesitated before lowering himself to the floor next to her. It took him another minute before he placed a gentle hand to the bare skin of her shoulder. Jemma reacted immediately, pulling herself onto his lap, where he cradled her against his chest, rocking them and stroking her curling hair in a way he hoped was soothing.

He supposed it was, because gradually her gasping sobs turned into barely audible whimpers and eventually she became so quiet he almost believed she had fallen back to sleep, curled against his tear soaked vest.

It reminded him almost of how he had held her back when Skye had been shot, they had stood silently until they were both stained with their own tears and blood which hadn't belonged to either of them. Even then when Simmons had struggled to keep her best friend from dying in front of her, he had not gotten a reaction as severe as this one. It must have been one hell of a nightmare.

Fitz cleared his throat gently, "all better?" He asked. Simmons slowly lifted her head to look at him with large red-rimmed eyes, she inhaled shakily and sniffed, "yeah" she nodded weakly "sorry,"

"Don't be, Jem, do you, err, did you want to talk about it?"

She was silent for a moment before she whispered a reply, "I couldn't breathe, I was drowning, you were there, but you were…" she shuddered, "you- you were dead, floating lifeless…"

"Is that why you were screaming?"

Jemma nodded against his chest, he felt fresh tears begin to leak through his already damp undershirt.

"Hey, hey," he soothed, "Its okay, its not real, It was only a dream,"

Jemma stiffened before she sat up awkwardly in his lap in an attempt to put some space between them, but when she looked up to meet his eyes they found themselves so close their noses almost touched and they could feel each other's breath on their cheeks.

His heartbeat quickened, "Jemma?"

Without warning she scrambled to standing position and he was forced to release his grip he had on her waist. Fitz watched her curiously as she paced the room before settling to stand in the corner with head resting against the wall.

"Jem?" he said, "Jem, what's the matter,"

"Nothing, Its nothing," she replied.

"Why don't I believe that?" Fitz saw the muscles in her shoulders tense, "Is this still about the nightmare, Simmons?"

He paused. Simmons said nothing. "You know you can talk to me… Bottling things up is never the way to go, Jemma, if something is bothering you that much..."

"Fitz I know you mean well, but please stop," she sighed again, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

Fitz rose stiffly to his feet, a hot twinge of frustration surged through him. "Simmons, since when do you not tell me everything,"

"Fitz..."

"I mean for as long as I've been your best friend you've never hesitated to fill me in on every petty little problem,"

"Fitz, this is bigger than all that,"

"Well cant you tell me?"

Simmons hesitated; she turned to face him, her expression unreadable. "I want to," She whispered.

"Jemma, I don't care what it is, but it's making you upset..."

"Just leave it..." She said, backtracking.

"I just want to help..."

It might have been the lack of sleep, the heat, the hormone imbalance or the fact that she was still rather queasy and emotionally drained, but Simmons felt herself snap.

"You've done enough Fitz"

He blinked, "You're being unreasonable," He said haughtily.

"Yes, well I have every right to be seeing as _I'm_ _pregnant_,"

Fitz could see her indignant expression falter as the realisation of what she had just said washed over them both. Fitz froze, his heart all but stopped and he for once felt himself at loss for words.

"Fitz?" Jemma spoke hesitantly as he lowered himself onto the bed in shock, staring blankly at the space in front of him "Fitz, I-are you ok?"

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out and he promptly closed it. Simmons sighed at his lack of response but gave him a minute before sitting herself down next to him.

"_Fitz_," his head snapped up as she placed a light hand on his arm and searched her face inscrutably.

"Pregnant?" He managed in a strangled whisper, "You- you're pregnant,"

"Yes" she dropped his gaze

"With a baby,"

Jemma bit back a sarcastic retort, "Yes, Fitz,"

"H-how..." He managed to stammer, Simmons choked out a bitter laugh. "Come on Fitz I know biology isn't exactly your field of expertise but still..."

"No, how long..."

Simmons paused, dropping her hand along with her gaze. "I'd say nearly twelve weeks now. But I've only known for five,"

"Is it..."

"I swear to god Fitz if you ask if it's yours..."

"Sorry, sorry, I-uh... Bloody hell..."

Fitz rubbed his hands over his face as he tried his best to process the new information his best friend had just given him.

"Are you angry?" Simmons whispered, her bitten nails dug into the skin of her palm as she balled her trembling hands into fists on her bare knees.

"How could I be?"

"I lied to you, you should be angry,"

Fitz shook his head, struggling again to find words.

Simmons sighed heavily. "I didn't want to tell you like this,"

"Does anybody else know?"

"Skye went with me to buy the test, Trip figured it out on his own so who knows…"

"You didn't tell your parents?"

She shook her head; "I was waiting to break it to you, first, then all of this happened…"

She paused to fiddle with the hem of his tangled bed sheets, weighing in her mind what she was about to say.

"Listen, Fitz, you are my best friend and I know how you hate change and I just want to let you know that if you're not comfortable..."

"What?" Fitz turned to her, his eyes bleary having been snapped out of his daze.

"What I'm trying to say is I don't want you to feel like you are under any obligation..."

Fitz stared at her incredulously, "Simmons, sorry, but what- what the hell are you on about?"

"It's okay, this is my fault, and you don't have to..."

"Simmons"

"I mean, I can move back with my parents, they'll probably hate me but you can continue with your career and if you don't want to..."

"Simmons,"

"...You don't have to see me or the baby..."

"_Jemma_" He silenced her, "what part of beside you the whole damn time don't you understand?"

He cupped the side of her face, forcing her to meet his steady eyes. "Now I understand were in a bit of a pickle…"

Jemma choked on her laugher, Fitz's smiled at her reaction. "… But I'm not walking out on you,"

"What about your career?" She breathed, after she recovered, "Your life?"

"What career, Jem, what life? It looks like all along we've been working for a pseudo-Nazi organisation and my identity has been completely wiped off of the face of the planet. I didn't think I had anything left to look forward to in this short, pasty life of mine, but..."

"We've got one now,"

The scientists broke into a pair of matching grins. "We're having a baby, Fitz,"

"Yeah," he murmured, lightly brushing his thumb across her cheekbone.

"It's going to be hard,"

"Yeah,"

"And scary,"

"Yes,"

"And we won't have a clue what were doing,"

"We'll manage,"

"Of course we will," she said, leaning her head forward until Fitz's forehead was pressed against her own, "Were a team, after all,"

"The best team," he agreed.

"I mean we can manage this can't we? As friends?"

Fitz was quiet of a moment; eventually he retracted his left hand from her grip and untangled the other from her mess of hair. He hovered hesitantly, almost cautiously over her barely protruding stomach. Simmons took his hand and gently pressed it against her skin above the waistline of her shorts and covered it with her own.

"Fitz?" She mumbled after a while, he hummed in reply, "Just... Thank you,"

"For what?"

"For... I don't know... Being so wonderful. For deciding to stay."

He flashed her an odd smile, "Simmons, you aren't getting rid of me that easily,"

* * *

**A/N: I hope that ****wasn't too anticlimactic... I know a lot of you have been waiting for this chapter and this was probably my favourite, I'm planning to have some more chapters from Fitz's Pov in the future, so do let me know what you thought.**

**Happy Holidays :) **


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